Brian Mittge Commentary: Godspeed to a Man Who Brought Help, Hope and Health

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The world lost a joyful, gentle giant of a man last month as Dr. Larry Hull, a longtime Centralia doctor and global humanitarian, left us at age 80.

Hull, who was living in San Antonio with his wife of 55 years, Aarlie, founded Washington Orthopaedic Center in Centralia 45 years ago. It was only one important milestone in a medical career that inspired generations of health care providers to serve both in this community and around the planet. 

Hull died on April 28 after suffering a major stroke two days earlier. As it happens, that was eight years nearly to the day after Centralia declared April 27, 2010, as “Dr. Larry Hull Day.”

Hull led medical missions trips to Papua New Guinea and Central America. He taught medical techniques and provided materials to local doctors. The Hulls also collected tens of thousands of books to send to libraries in developing countries. 

Beyond the immediate healing of medicine, he and his wife also planned for larger, more enduring ways to lend aid to those in need. The two of them founded a coffee plantation to help provide work and income in Papua New Guinea. 

Every year, their medical mission there serves 10,000 patients, vaccinates 5,000 children and serves the populace with medical education regarding nutrition, prevention of HIV/AIDS and proper sanitation.

“He has been a great blessing to us and to the people of Papua New Guinea,” said Jim Radcliffe, chief of staff at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital, in 2010. “He has given his time, his talents, his energy, his heart and his resources in a selfless service of healing.”

Three years later, in 2013, the couple received the Evergreen Award for their lives of service, including nearly 50 medical mission trips.

In fact, The Chronicle reported at the time, the ability to do medical mission trips was part of Hull’s original business plan when he founded Lewis County’s first specialty clinic, Washington Orthopaedic Center, in 1973.

“It’s part of the company culture,” Hull said. “And as part of the Christian faith, it’s what God wants us to do.”

During his first medical missions trip, he performed an amputation on a kitchen table after Guatemala was hit by an earthquake in 1976.

Many of his employees followed in his footsteps.

“He’s a visionary,” said Dr. Keith Anderson at the time of the Hulls’ Evergreen Award. 



Hull was not only a humanitarian, he was a medical leader in the Lewis County community.

He was a former president of staff and chief of surgery for Providence Centralia Hospital, a former regional representative for the Washington Orthopedic Society and a former president of the Lewis County Medical Society.

When not providing medical care, Hull was a board member for Centralia Church of the Nazarene, where he also taught Sunday school and sang in the choir.

When he officially retired from Washington Orthopaedic Center 10 years ago, he didn’t put too much stock in the idea of hanging up his hat and taking it easy.

“Retirement is a four-letter word, period,” Hull said in January 2008. “I don’t think God ever meant for us to retire. So I decided it’s a four-letter word, and that’s love and hope and care and help.”

He thought occasionally about his legacy. In 2010, after being given a national humanitarian away, he talked about how he wanted to be remembered. 

“The legacy I want to leave behind is that I have been a man of character, that I have served when there was an opportunity, that I have been unselfish with the blessings I’ve received,” said Hull, adding his hope that he would be “remembered as someone who encouraged, someone who loved, and someone who brought help, hope and health.”

That’s exactly how Dr. Larry Hull will be remembered here in Lewis County and in communities across the globe where he delivered healing served with enthusiasm and humility. 

It’s quite a legacy, indeed. 

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Brian Mittge can be reached at brianmittge@hotmail.com.